Nonlinear Hydroelastic Interaction among a Floating Elastic Plate, Water Waves, and Exponential Shear Currents

Nonlinear hydroelastic interaction among a floating elastic plate, a train of deepwater waves, and a current which decays exponentially with depth is studied analytically. We introduce a stream function to obtain the governing equation with the dynamic boundary condition expressing a balance among the hydrodynamic, the shear currents, elastic, and inertial forces. We use the Dubreil-Jacotin transformation to reformulate the unknown free surface as a fixed location in the calculations. The convergent analytical series solutions for the floating plate deflection are obtained with the aid of the homotopy analysis method (HAM). The effects of the shear current are discussed in detail. It is found that the phase speed decreases with the increase of the vorticity parameter in the opposing current, while the phase speed increases with the increase of the vorticity parameter in the aiding current. Larger vorticity tends to increase the horizontal velocity. In the opposing current, the horizontal velocity under the wave crest delays more quickly as the depth increases than that of waves under the wave trough, while in the aiding current case, there is the opposite effect. Furthermore, the larger vorticity can sharpen the hydroelastic wave crest and smooth the trough on an opposing current, while it produces an opposite effect on an aiding current.